Carlos Peguero, a young man of massive swings, towering foul balls, impressive broken bats and (five times this season) important home runs, will make his first start tonight as the Mariners’ No. 4 hitter.
It’s not a place you typically find a young hitter, but this is no typical season for t
he Mariners.
Their place in the standings (second place, two games behind Texas) aside, this is a year to learn how the best young players fit the future of the organization. Hold your Dustin Ackley thoughts for a while, though, and let’s focus on the present.
Peguero is the DH tonight against the Angels and batting fourth.
“We’ve got to keep searching to try to find something that works for us offensively,” manager Eric Wedge said. “We’ve got these young kids up here who are right in the middle of it. He’s a threat every time he walks up there. We’ll keep searching. We’re not afraid to try anything.”
Wedge was asked if he worried that that Peguero, who swings with all his might anyway, might become other-worldly in his hacks in the No. 4 hole.
“I’m not going to worry about it,” Wedge said. “I’m past trying to worry about much of anything when it comes to what we’re trying to do offensively. I’m more focused on being more aggressive and not being afraid to take chances.
“I think when you talk about what we’re capable of doing and what we are doing offensively, those are two different things. We’ve been trying to find a combination that works and keep trying to get these guys going. We’ll find out who’s going to really be in the mix as we move forward. With these young kids, all bets are off. We can bounce them around and do what we need to do with them right now, until they get further along.”
A few other notes before tonight’s series finale against the Angels:
• Speaking of huge hacks, pitchers took batting practice this afternoon and Michael Pineda put on a show. He hit several towering fly balls over the left-field fence, including one that landed in Edgar Martinez territory in the second deck.
• The Mariners will make up their two rainouts in Cleveland with a day/night doubleheader Aug. 23 and a game Sept. 19, which was supposed to be a travel day in the next-to-last week of the season.
With those makeups, the Mariners will play 40 games in a 41-day stretch from Aug. 19 to the end of the season Sept. 28.
“It’s going to be a tough stretch, but hopefully it’ll be a meaningful stretch,” Wedge said. “To me, a meaningful stretch in August and September, being tired is not going to be an issue.”
• Adam Kennedy fielded balls at third base during early work this afternoon, but Wedge basically brushed it aside when asked about it.
“He’s been taking some ground balls at third, just moving around the infield,” he said. “We’ll continue to see that happen.”
Here are tonight’s lineups:
ANGELS
Erick Aybar, shortstop
Torii Hunter, right field
Bobby Abreu, DH
Vernon Wells, left field
Howie Kendrick, second base
Mark Trumbo, first base
Peter Bourjos, center field
Bobby Wilson, catcher
Andrew Romine, third base
Starting pitcher: Right-hander Ervin Santana (3-6, 4.37)
MARINERS
Ichiro Suzuki, right field
Brendan Ryan, shortstop
Justin Smoak, first base
Carlos Peguero, DH
Miguel Olivo, catcher
Mike Carp, left field
Franklin Gutierrez, center field
Chone Figgins, third base
Jack Wilson, second base
Starting pitcher: Left-hander Erik Bedard (3-4, 3.47)
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